Non-immunological Contact Urticaria (NICU) due to Ethanol Containing Hand Sanitiser: A Case Report

Contact Urticaria (CU) is a wheal and flare reaction, occurring within few minutes to hours of contact to an external agent over skin or mucosa. Depending on underlying pathophysiology, CU is of two types: immunological CU and non-immunological CU. Use of hand sanitisers has increased multifold in this COVID-19 pandemic, due to increased awareness regarding maintaining a good hygiene to reduce the transmission of infection. This present case is a 24-year-old man, who overzealously added ethanol-based hand sanitiser to his bathing water on the advice of a general physician and after bathing developed redness, swelling and itching on various body parts. A diagnosis of Non-immunological CU (NICU) due to ethanol in sanitiser was made, based on history and clinical examination.